Conventional product dispensers can pour a beverage by combining a syrup, sweetener, and/or water. To create a finite variety of beverage selections different kinds of syrup can be offered. This typically results in being able to offer a finite number of branded and non-branded beverage selections. As an example, a single prior art dispenser using several different kinds of syrup might be able to offer limited choices of COCA-COLA™, DIET COCA-COLA™, SPRITE™, and a few other branded or non-branded beverage selections.
One problem with these types of conventional product dispensers is that only a limited number of drinks can be offered. As such, conventional product dispensers may be limited in being able to offer the consumer what they want. In this regard, consumers want a wider menu of beverage selections and the ability to customize their beverage. Research suggests that they want more beverage variations even for a traditional branded beverage. For example, offering COCA-COLA™, COCA-COLA™ with lime, CHERRY COCA-COLA™, VANILLA COCA-COLA™ and numerous other types of COCA-COLA™ beverage variations. Offering all the variations possible for a single drink brand such as COCA-COLA™ are impractical in conventional product dispensers in part because conventional product dispensers have limited capacity and selection capability. They may not offer the consumer what the consumer wants, that is, a complete variety of choices for all types of branded and non-branded beverages.
Product dispensers historically have worked by combining a diluent (such as water) with a beverage base. These beverage bases usually have a reconstitution ratio of about 3:1 to 6:1. The beverage bases usually come in large containers that require large amounts of storage space and may need to be refrigerated. These requirements often necessitate the need to store these containers far from the actual dispenser and to run long lines from the containers to the dispenser.
Given the improvements in shelf life and concentration described above, there is a desire for a product dispenser that can produce even more and different types of beverages while using a smaller footprint. This can be accomplished by breaking down the traditional beverage bases into constituent parts at much higher reconstitution ratios. These parts can then be stored in much smaller packages and stored closer to, adjacent to, or within the product dispenser itself. The product dispenser preferably can give the consumer multiple beverage options such that the consumer has the ability to customize his or her beverage as desired.
In certain instances, any number of beverages may become “sold out,” wherein the associated container for a particular beverage base or flavor becomes empty or near empty after the original amount of beverage base or flavor in the container is used. When a sold out condition occurs, an air pocket or air bubble may be introduced into a portion of an associated beverage supply line between the container and a dispensing nozzle. If a new container for the particular beverage base or flavor is connected to the beverage supply line, a product dispenser operator may have to “prime” the product dispenser to clear out the air pocket or air bubble from the portion of supply line. This can be performed by operating the product dispenser and selecting the particular beverage associated with the new container. In conventional product dispensers, the priming operation for each new container is a time consuming, manually initiated operation that requires the operator to individually prime each supply line for each newly installed container. In some instances, when multiple containers are installed, the priming operation for multiple containers can take several minutes since the operator must successively prime each container before the product dispenser is ready for further operation.